1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to computer networks and in particular to wireless access to computer networks. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system/device and computer program product for providing up-to-date location of hotspots for wirelessly accessing computer networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
The implementation and utilization of wireless computer networks are growing at a tremendous rate as computer (and other device) users become more and more mobile. Wireless fidelity (WIFI) networks, in particular, have seen a surge in consumer use and have become the most widely utilized standard for wireless networking. WIFI networks operate according to Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, which is supported by most hardware vendors. These WIFI networks typically have an indoor range of one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet, with performance likely to degrade as the distance increases. Also, typical outdoor ranges for these WIFI networks are approximately one thousand feet. The strength and performance of the outdoor WIFI network typically also degrade as the distance increases, depending also on a number of factors such as atmosphere conditions and physical obstructions.
In order to provide distributed wireless access to a network, network service providers typically provide a plurality of geographically-dispersed wireless access ports. These wireless access ports provide WIFI access points that allow computer users to access the Internet via laptop and/or hand-held (or portable) computers/devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, cellular phones, and the like. These WIFI access points are referred to as “hotspots” and are currently located in many airports, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and convention centers, for example.
Particularly, the term hotspot refers to the area extending from the wireless access port within which the wireless signal is broadcasted and can be detected by a wireless-enabled/capable user device. “Hotspot” based wireless services are provided by adhoc networks using short-range wireless systems, such as Bluetooth, 802.11 and wireless local area network (WLAN) technology/protocol and provide proximity-based wireless services to mobile terminals at the associated “hotspots.” The short range wireless systems are provided via a hotspot access point/port or hotspot server. Each working wireless access port thus emits a wireless signal recognized by wireless-capable mobile devices. The mobile devices then latch onto the wireless signals and are able to access the network via a series of authentication procedures with the background network, depending on whether the network is openly available (or free) or requires some form of payment or subscription.
As WIFI use continues to expand, many of the major notebook computer manufacturers (and manufacturers of other mobile devices) manufacture their devices with an embedded wireless network interface card (NIC) or the mechanism for attaching such a device post-manufacture (e.g., as a USB device). The users of these devices may then access the mobile functionality provided by the computer by subscribing to one or more of the available wireless networks and/or relying on the availability of free-use hotspot locations. However, such wireless access may then require the user have some knowledge of the location of the available wireless networks in their geographic vicinity.
One problem associated with current access to WIFI hotspots is that it is sometimes difficult for a user to locate a WIFI hotspot in a nearby geographic location. While the mobile user may be able to occasionally pick up a random wireless signal, the majority of users prefer to have some idea of where the hotspots are located so that they do not have to drive around town, searching for a wireless signal (from a particular service provider to which the user subscribes) or some random signal at a previously unknown (though publicly-available) location. Thus wireless users tend to congregate at known hotspots that are advertised in some way. For example, certain popular retailers (e.g., Starbucks and McDonald's) and other establishments install hotspots in their locations to draw patrons. However, people new to the area or unfamiliar with the area may not know where these establishments are located. Travelers to a new location fall into this category of users. In addition, not all hotspots have the same performance or cost characteristics. Some hotspots may have a contract with a certain provider through which the user subscribes, or the hotspot may employ a pay-on-demand type service. In these cases, the user may want to know what the rates and/or contract conditions are for the service, possibly filtering the query results according to those parameters.
A practice termed “warchalking” has been emerging. Warchalking entails drawing a chalk symbol on a wall or pavement to indicate the presence of a wireless networking node. When a computer user comes across this symbol, the symbol notifies the user that the location contains a WIFI hotspot. Warchalking is, however, not a complete nor reliable system because the system is based on an ad-hoc process of the public discovering wireless fidelity nodes, whether commercial or not, and manually signaling the presence of the hotspot with chalk symbols. Also, warchalking does not eliminate the frustration of having to drive around with the hopes of finding a hotspot, particularly since most hotspot locations do not ascribe to the warchalking concept. In addition, the user may not have the time to search for warchalking symbols to find hotspot locations and may not want to risk the possibility of confidential business data being transferred across networks with unknown security features.
Because of the frustration and uncertainty in the above methods of finding hotpost locations, many online websites have began publishing the location of hotspots in particular geographic areas. Directories of hotspot locations are thus available to the user on the Internet. Thus, astute users typically access a website providing a list of available local hotspots and their corresponding street address. The user then determines where these hotspots are relative to their current location and picks one that is convenient (close by) or belongs to the service provider to which the user subscribes.
Current practices for using the Internet to track and find WIFI hotspots, such as 802.11 Access Points, are cumbersome and inefficient. Lists are frequently generated by word-of-mouth, for example, the list maintained on the Austin, Tex.' Wireless Group's world-wide web (www) site: “austinwireless.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/NodesAroundAustin.” Hotspots on these lists regularly go down for long periods of time, but the lists do not reflect these extended outages since the list is not updated unless a user becomes aware of the outage and takes the time to make a manual report to the administrator of the list. Added to the unreliability of the list is the fact that these lists provide little or no information regarding the overall quality of the connections, the bandwidth, availability, or other such statistics.
Despite this online information, a wireless mobility user may have difficulty finding a hotspot location for wireless access. Subscription users may not have brought a hard copy listing of the carrier-provided WIFI hotspot locations. Even when the locations are known, there is no guarantee that the wireless signal is still operational.
Particular web sites such as JiWire® (jiwire.com) provide a searchable database of WIFI hotspots. However, JiWire's database suffers from many of the same drawbacks as above. Also, the JiWire results are heavily biased toward T-Mobile® and Boingo® hotspots, which require either a payment or a subscription to use. This bias towards paid hotspots indicates that JiWire populates its database largely with hotspots reported to it by T-Mobile or Boingo, while other hotspots of competitors or ones that may be free are not as readily added to the JiWire database since JiWire receives no financial incentive for listing these cites. As with the Austin, Tex. website, JiWire is also manually updated and thus subject to the similar limitations described above.